Hello, I am the proud gramma of a very sweet but very challanging 5 year old little gal. She acts more like a 3 year old then a 5 year old. Her parents are so frustrated. She goes up to strangers and tries to hug them, she cannot keep her hands off anything, no matter how many times she is told no. She will repeat the same question over and over again, no matter what the answer is. Her mama and I were with her in a store yesterday, and she asked over and over again if she could have a bath when she got home. She was told yes but she kept asking anyway. She seems to be unable to stop asking. She does pretty good in kindergarten, got mostly satisfactory on her report card. She has some speech problems and gets speech therapy in school. She also has a habit of hitting her older sister, who is 10. I kept her overnight last week, to give mom and dad a break. Oh boy, I don't know why we called it a sleepover, it was definately a wakeover. Thanks to all of you who read this and respond. We are completely puzzled. Kasey

your statement at the very beginning of this that she is five but acts like around three,really kind of makes me wonder,coupled along with her behavior,if she dosen't have some sort of a mental status issue going on.what you describe,doesn't sound like an unwillfullness like you see in alot of kids,this sounds more like the behavior of someone whos emotional/mental status is not quite up to par.like with downs?i am in no way saying that this is what she has,but it does sound alot like that type of behavior to me.

something just sounds a bit 'off' to me. has she ever had any testing done on this type of behavioral issue?i really do think,considering the behavioral issues along with the fact that she does show some deficits with languege/speech,that having her see someone,which can most likely be set up thru the school she is attending,for a full eval on her real mental status.Like i said,something just really sounds 'not right' with what you have described here that really just dosen't seem like it would be age related.

believe me,i know how four and five year olds can be,but what you described is like she just doesn't appear to 'get it'? you know what i mean?not a willfull child type of behavior.please let me know how things are going.good luck with this,marcia

Ok well I just read the other reply you got and I think saying downs is a bit much. Most kids who have downs are certainly diagnosed by this age as there are obvious physical characteristics even if they are slight. One thing I learned when pregnant with my son-(they told me after a sonogram that he had a 'marker' for downs) so I found out all I could just in case.(he's 4 now and does not have it) what I learned is that ALL downs children no matter how mild are born with an extra line straight across the middle of the palms and it is very obvious even if the facial characteristics are not. I think by 5 doctors would have picked that up. Have her ears been checked really well, by a specialist? I know 2 children wha have had similar problems with speech and learning only to find out they could not hear very well. Is she bieng fresh when asking for things over and over or just asking? Does she make eye contact when speaking to you? IN the past few years these docs have come up with many diiferent forms of autism from very mild to severe. I am not saying she has this but if you bring this bahavior up to her doctor I bet he/she brings it up. They did this with my son as well when he was 21/2 simply because he seemed to have a obsession with garage doors and lights. Well he's still obsessed with garages but he does not have autism. I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to get too crazy with what other people and the doctors say. Maybe she simply requires more reasurance and attention than some other children. Also when she asks for something and is told yes, does it always come through for her? Sometime parents say yes and then it doesn't happen for whatever reason(my husband does this to my son all the time and it drives me crazy) As a result he will also ask over and over simply to be reassured.

I never said this child had downs,what i did say is that from the behavior,it seemed as tho there was an issue with mental status,like downs.i should have worded this differently but i was thinking of some of the behaviors i have seen in the downs kids i have known,and it really appeared to be the same type in some regard.i never would label someone as having anything,espescially something as strong as that.you just mentioned autism,it doesn't mean this child has that either,you know what i mean.i think we are both trying to say the same thing here really,and that is the child really does need to be evaluated.something just sounds a bit 'off' to both of us,you know what i mean?

the child most definitely needs an eval by someone very familiar with all types of disorders.that is all i was saying.you brought up a really great point in having the hearing checked,that could affect alot of different areas,espescially learning which could explain her being more 'like three than five".also the inability to 'hear" and do what she is being told.

i was just merely making a suggestion to have this looked at more closely.i think that is ,in essence what you were trying to say too?i really didn't mean to offend you or anyne else with my post,i am sorry it came across that way to you.glad things are okay for you and your family.marcia

Ok, I wasn't implying autism either so I guess I didn't word it too well either. The point I was trying to make is that sometimes the doctors will scare the hell out of you with these suggestions when in fact it can be something quite simple so, if they mention these things try not to panick and don't accept it if you don't feel it's true, keep looking even if it means changing doctors.

She does pretty good in kindergarten, got mostly satisfactory on her report card.

Have her parents talked to the teacher to see if she does the same thing at school? If she doesn't exibit this same behavior at school, I would be willing to bet that she's doing it on purpose for attention. Why kids do things that annoy parents on purpose, I have no idea. If someone else knows the answer to that, thay could probably make a lot of money!:D

I have a 9year old son with a few similarities. Was there any problems with your grandaughter when she was born. My son has ADD which I dont think is the problem with your grandaughter, but I recently found out my son has the same problems as an autistic child. He is in a regular school but is in a special education class. My son will ask the same thing over and over. We found out he is also developentally delayed, which we knew from birth, we just couldnt pinpoint what the problem was until he went into kidnergarten. We had the best teachers in our district. I just had to tell his teacher once to watch him well class is in session to see if he can function with the rest of the class, which at that time it was 20 children. She watched and saw he was just going through the motions, he just couldnt keep up. We are still going through alot if issues with my son, but we basically have an idea what we have to do as parents. Every so often he comes up with another emotional problem. I know how you feel. We never went on vacations without my son because we feel know one knows him like we do.Basically have the teachers watch her in the classroom and the playground and report back to you on how she functions with the other children physically and mentally. Start with that first. Hopefully you can find the answers you are looking for. Goodluck!